As teachers, we’ve always told our students that they could do or be anything they wanted to be. But did we really believe it? Or was it just our way of hoping for the best for them?
Now, with the election of Barak Obama to be the next United States President, we know any given student really can become anything. After all, Obama is half black, came from a single parent home, and for much of his childhood was raised by his grandmother under modest circumstances.
This raises the stakes for teachers. There are students in our classrooms today who will change the world for the better. They will find the cure for AIDS and cancer. They will develop answers for global warming. This isn’t just hopeful rhetoric anymore; this is simple plain fact. And we as teachers are called upon to step up and give them the education they need to meet their destinies. We can’t discriminate when it comes to our students; every child needs the best possible education, as if they were preparing for the presidency.
On a recent trip to Washington DC for a meeting of the Board of Directors for the National Board, I heard many enthusiastic reactions to the election. Becky Pringle, NEA Secretary Treasurer, shared a wonderful experience:
Her grandfather had been a slave. He was gravely ill with cancer during the election and wasn’t eating. He lives in Pennsylvania, a swing state. She called him and told him to eat so he would have the strength to vote for the first African American President. Amazing!
But what is our role now that Obama has won the election? The country faces numerous challenges--education, the economy, the environment. We are all challenged to step up to help make a difference. What can each one of us do to support this new era of leadership? If everything is possible, how do we turn the potential into the actual, both for our students in the classroom and for ourselves?
One answer is to make the most of the opportunities before us. That’s why I’m so proud of Sarah Baird, Arizona’s new Teacher of the Year. Like many students in our classrooms, life was not always easy for Sarah. Yet she persevered. She had no money but went to NAU and wrangled the necessary funds to go to school. Today she changes people’s lives as a Math Coach in Kyrene District, a National Board Certified Teacher, a Master Teacher and a trainer for the Arizona K-12 Center.
So who in your class is the next Teacher of the Year? Who is the next President of the United States? We can’t back down from our goals and standards because of hard economic times. We have to keep our eyes on the prize, which is investing in the best possible public education for our students and our future.
